I was at a graduation dinner with a group of international students when the conversation turned to what we were reading. One of the women mentioned she was reading Georgette Heyer, widely considered the creator of Regency romance. Her first book, The Black Moth, was originally a story written for her brother. It was later published as a novel in 1921. Heyer is noted for her attention to historical detail to the extent that her fashions are accurate into the year in which the books are set. Historical personages --- on the rare occasions when they appear --- say nothing beyond what they were recorded to have said in life. Heyer is where many readers turn after they have consumed the six short works that survive Jane Austen. But what was most surprising about the conversation was that almost every woman at the table --- people from Germany, France, India, and Japan --- had read Heyer’s books and had something to add to the conversation. Frequently I find that a genre I consider to be my dirty little secret ends up being the one thing I have in common with almost everyone at the table.

Romance and other genre novels are often the stepping stones youth readers use to transition to adult literature. Occasionally there is controversy about whether books are appropriate or educational enough for young readers (though rarely is that question asked of the same books when adults read them). The Regency genre, with its attention to social protocol and PG-rated romance, is often something teen readers are guided to or discover on their own. Oftentimes the heroines are a similar age to the readers, 16- or 17-year-old girls taking their first steps into society, facing the challenge of what they will be able to do with their lives given the limitations of their roles or circumstances. One of the things I love about the genre is that it’s like a puzzle. The basic theme is the same, often boiling down to the heroine’s prospect for marriage, but the outcome can be radically different depending on the focus of the book, and how the author (or character) chooses to deal with their situation. 

It’s not surprising, then, that Regency romances are starting to appear directed specifically at the youth market. This year brings two such titles. Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis features a 12-year-old heroine meddling with the marriage plans of her elder sisters. With the aid of a magic mirror, she discovers herself to be the possessor of a powerful hereditary magic. Kat’s gift is primarily an ability to break the spells of others. She stumbles upon them accidentally at first, inadvertently breaking spells that her sister --- a dabbler in witchcraft --- has laid, but ultimately using them to save her eldest sister from marriage with an evil man. Kat, Incorrigible contains a very funny scene involving a botched holdup with a highway man. But I suspect it may have trouble finding readership. Younger readers may be challenged by the language and nuanced social situations, while older ones may find Kat’s age to be off-putting since it does not allow her to have romantic adventures of her own. Nevertheless, the book’s title is correct. Kat IS incorrigible; she defies not only the conventions of society, but occasionally those of the Regency novel. While the combination of magic and Regency romance is nothing new (readers who enjoy the genre may be charmed by Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer), Kat brings a restless energy at odds with the decorum of the genre. 

The second Regency romance title published for youth readers this year is Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury. Its heroine, Agnes Wilkins, is the beautiful yet overeducated heroine common to the genre. Preparing to make her debut into London Society, she becomes enmeshed in a mystery involving espionage and Egyptian funerary relics when she surreptitiously takes an ornament she finds during a party where the main event is the unwrapping of a mummy. Bradbury acknowledges she takes some liberty with her novel --- though the trade in mummies was already hot in the Regency period, mummy unwrapping parties were not common until the 1840s --- but I don’t think history or her readers will fault her. Combining two common but frequently overlooked aspects of the Regency period --- Egyptology and the Napoleonic wars --- Wrapped is a romance wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a spy thriller, and a delicious read for anyone who enjoys the genre (and I suspect a few who usually don’t). It's tempting to draw parallels to Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody series about another 19th century Egyptologist, but Wrapped is closer in spirit to Madeline Robins's Sarah Tolerance series, featuring a Regency 'woman of inquiry' specializing in swordplay. 

Both YA titles leave room for sequels, though my question is less about what these authors will produce next (Jennifer Bradbury is already the author of an accomplished and very different contemporary YA novel, Shift, about a cross-country bicycle trip and familial discord) than it is why we haven’t seen more of this genre written specifically for young adults.

What are your favorite genre titles? Which ones do you recommend as crossover titles for youth readers?